Mackenzie Shipley

BMMB Graduate Student

I received my B.S. in Chemistry from Hartwick College located in upstate New York this past spring. While pursuing my undergraduate degree I spent three summers working at Brookhaven National Laboratory as an intern for the Tracer Technology Group. The first two summers were spent developing and optimizing analytical methods for the analysis of perfluorocarbon tracer compounds using a gas chromatograph with a thermal conductivity detector. My final summer I was involved in the Subway-Surface Airflow Exchange (S-SAFE) project in which the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory conducted the country’s largest urban air flow study to date to better understand the risks posed by airborne contaminants, including chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) weapons in the event they are dispersed in the atmosphere and in the City’s subway system.
After realizing that I was much more passionate and drawn to biomedical research, I began applying to biochemistry-based PhD programs to continue my education and was accepted to Penn State. My final research project before I graduated was my senior thesis project. This research was aimed at determining if cisplatin-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells could be altered when a unique siRNA was used to suppress the oncogene c-Myc. The ultimate question we were interested in was whether c-Myc was involved in the intrinsic apoptosis pathway or not. Outside of the lab I enjoy playing soccer and volleyball, watching all sports–especially soccer (Arsenal) and football (Seattle Seahawks), visiting home (Seattle), reading, running, hiking and playing video games. You can find me in W-221 Millenium Science Complex, don’t be a stranger!